Our European Vacation

We had such a blast in Paris and London!! We spent 2 days in Paris and we got to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, Hotel De Ville, Rodin Museum, Notre Dame, the Museum of the Middle Ages, and so much more! We walked nearly everywhere and also tooled around in a BatoBus (Boat Bus) on the Seine. In London, we spent 3 days and we saw Les Mis on stage, Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the Boudica statue, National Gallery, and visited almost every tea shop in the theater district! We bought coins dating back to the Roman Britain era and a tea set. We took tea several times and ate in an English Pub named The White Lion. We also spent a day in Basildon, Essex with some friends of ours - Clive, Lesley, Sam and Chloe Spriggs. We visited some cute shops and had a wonderful lunch and dinner as well as tea and scones. Probably the highlight of our trip!

We walked everywhere and ate the most wonderful food. The amazing thing about Europe is that you can walk almost everywhere, which I found awesome! Everything you need is just blocks away; in fact, they measure how far away something is (from our hotel) by how long it takes to walk there . . . Covent Garden is just 4 min away!
We rented cabbies occasionally - well, basically just to the airport. But they also have the underground subway system, which also rocks. I never really get the hang of it, but luckily, Ken knew what he was doing! Interestingly, London cabbies go through an extensive 3-year training and exam period to become cabbies. It's a real profession, not just someone with a driver's license. They learn where every street in London is! Maybe that's why most of the cabbies are English, but none of the wait-staff are! (Most of the wait-staff are from other European countries-what's up with that?!)
I was also amazed by the difference in the amount of food that Europeans serve. It's half of the serving sizes here - I mean - you can actually see the plate underneath all the food! Also, they use much less sugar in the dishes they prepare. I absolutely loved it! I never once left the table hungry - everything seemed like the right portion sizes. Wish our restaurants would learn about that!
Another thing that I found different was the people. Everyone talks about the French being unfriendly, and it is definitely true. You don't see people smiling at each other or greeting strangers. It made me really appreciate the hospitality and friendliness of Americans. We are definitely a people who like others and want to make others feel comfortable and welcome.

I loved visiting Europe, and I would love to visit a different part of England and/or Europe once a year for the rest of my life, but I'm proud to be an American. We're a lovely nation and a friendly people and though I can enjoy and appreciate aspects of Europe, I'm glad to be home!
-Krista

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fun

Our good friends Laura and Daniel visited us last week. We all had a GREAT time! We did "Ken's tour of Austin," which included the capital, Mt. Bonnell, and the 360 bridge. I think they were particularly impressed by the 18lb custom Texas door hinges 'specially made for the capital building (which is taller than the U.S. capital building in DC!).
We also visited Bastrop and Smithville (Home of Hope Floats), just down the road from Bastrop. We ate yummy food, watched good movies, chatted, drank good wine and just enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing weekend. Laura also helped me redecorate and move furniture around (thanks Laura- the table is still tilted!).

In other news, we're starting to prepare for our Europe trip. We'll spend 2 days in Paris, and then 3 days in London. Ken leaves April 17th and will be there for a couple of days with his best bud, Todd. Then, I'll leave April 19 and join them for a day. Todd flies back to the states Monday and Ken and I'll be on our own in the city of love. We can't wait!

Today, we replaced a section of fence in the front of the house. We had a little stray dog find her way into our yard. Not that we don't love dogs, but we'd like to make sure only ours get into the backyard and stay there!
I'd write more, but I'm beat!
-Krista